- 1979 Ryder Cup
Infobox Ryder Cup
year = 1979
logo =
dates = September 14–16
venue =The Greenbrier
location =White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
home = US
away = EU
homecaptain =Billy Casper
awaycaptain = John Jacobs
homescore = 17
awayscore = 11
result = United States retainsThe 23rd Ryder Cup Matches were held at theThe Greenbrier inWhite Sulphur Springs, West Virginia . It was the beginning of a new era for theRyder Cup . For the first time players from continental Europe took part in the Ryder Cup (specifically, Spanish golfersSeveriano Ballesteros andAntonio Garrido ), to form Team Europe which replaced Team Great Britain and Ireland as the official opposition to the United States. It was hoped that the historic change would help bring about the end of near total domination by the United States that had existed since the end of the Second World War. However the change made no real impact at the first attempt as the United States won the competition easily by a score of 17 to 11 points.Format
The
Ryder Cup is amatch play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was similar to the formats used from 1963 through 1975, but with fewer singles matches:
*Day 1 — 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in a morning session and 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in an afternoon session
*Day 2 — 4 foursome matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball matches in an afternoon session
*Day 3 — 12 singles matches, 6 each in morning and afternoon sessionsWith a total of 28 points, 14½ points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.Teams
;flagicon|USA|size=50px Team United StatesCaptain:
Billy Casper
*Lanny Wadkins
*Larry Nelson
*Tom Kite
*Mark Hayes
*Andy Bean
*John Mahaffey
*Lee Elder
*Hale Irwin
*Hubert Green
*Fuzzy Zoeller
*Lee Trevino
*Gil Morgan ;flagicon|EU|size=50px Team EuropeCaptain: flagicon|England John Jacobs
*flagicon|ScotlandBernard Gallacher
*flagicon|Spain|1977Severiano Ballesteros
*flagicon|EnglandTony Jacklin
*flagicon|Spain|1977Antonio Garrido
*flagicon|England Michael King
*flagicon|Scotland Brian Barnes
*flagicon|EnglandNick Faldo
*flagicon|IrelandDes Smyth
*flagicon|EnglandPeter Oosterhuis
*flagicon|Scotland Ken Brown
*flagicon|ScotlandSandy Lyle
*flagicon|England Mark JamesFriday's matches
Morning four-ball
Afternoon four-ball
References
*cite web |url=http://www.rydercup.com/2006/europe/history/results/1979.html |title=Ryder Cup 2006 » History » 1979 Results |publisher=The PGA of America, Ryder Cup Limited, and Turner Sports Interactive |accessdate=2007-03-14
*cite web |url=http://golf.about.com/od/teamcompetitions/p/rydercup1979.htm |title=Ryder Cup – 1979 |publisher=About:Golf |accessdate=2007-03-14
*cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/3911529.stm |title=Ryder Cup history: 1979 |publisher=BBC Sport |accessdate=2007-03-14
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